Every November the same question starts coming in. “We’re heading to family for Thanksgiving and might stay through New Year’s. Do we need to do anything about the septic before we go?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Good question. The answer is mostly good news, plus a few small chores that keep you from coming home to a soggy yard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A septic tank doesn’t need you home to do its job. The bacteria inside slow down when nothing new comes in, but a few weeks away won’t wipe them out. Once you’re back and running water again, they pick right back up. You don’t need to “feed” the tank while you’re gone, and you don’t need to pump it just because you’re leaving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The thing that can hurt you is water running when nobody is there to notice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A toilet flapper that sticks or a faucet that drips sends water into the tank day and night. The EPA notes that a leaky toilet alone can waste as much as 200 gallons a day. In an empty house, that water has one place to go: through your tank and out into the drain field. Over two or three weeks that can saturate the soil, and here in North Fulton our red clay is slow to drain to begin with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before you lock the door:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your home has a pump tank, an aerobic unit or a mound system, which we see a lot of on sloped lots in Milton and Cumming, that equipment runs on electricity. Leave its breaker on when you go. If there’s an alarm panel, make sure someone nearby knows what it sounds like and what to do. Our post on what a beeping septic alarm means<\/a> is a good one to send them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fifteen minutes of a neighbor’s time once a week covers a lot. Ask them to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is the part people forget. You roll in Sunday night with a car full of suitcases, and by Monday afternoon the washer has run six loads, the dishwasher has run twice and everybody has taken a long shower. That’s a big slug of water hitting the drain field all at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Spread it out. The EPA recommends doing laundry across the week instead of all in one day. Run a load or two a day for the first few days and your system will barely notice you were gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your house is filling up this season instead of emptying out, read our guide to hosting holiday guests without a backup<\/a>. Different situation, same idea: give the system time to keep up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your tank is due for pumping, or you can’t remember the last time anyone opened the lid, the weeks before a trip are a smart time to have it checked. Matt Banta and our crew serve homeowners from Alpharetta and Roswell to Johns Creek, Sandy Springs and Peachtree Corners, and we’re open every day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Then you can pack the car knowing a licensed Georgia septic contractor looked things over first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Call Action Septic Tank Service at 770-922-1434<\/a> or visit actionseptictankservice.com<\/a> to schedule service.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Away for the holidays? Keep your North Fulton septic system safe in an empty house with these simple steps. Call 770-922-1434.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1660,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[421,446,267,433,436,620,443,429,434,423,469,441,471,614,616,440,431,322,473,472,617,424,476,465,426,467,430,420,428,381,438,444,439,240,432,619,239,427,464,422,435,470,244,442,475,425,437,466,519,615,618],"class_list":["post-1661","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-action-septic-digest","tag-770-922-1434","tag-action-septic-digest","tag-action-septic-tank-service","tag-alpharetta-georgia-septic-experts","tag-clogged-septic-tank-alpharetta","tag-drain-field-overload","tag-drain-field-problems-alpharetta","tag-drain-field-repair-alpharetta","tag-emergency-septic-near-me","tag-emergency-septic-service-alpharetta","tag-family-septic-system-care","tag-fast-septic-service-alpharetta","tag-heavy-rain-septic-issues","tag-holiday-travel-septic-tips","tag-leaky-toilet-septic","tag-licensed-septic-technician-alpharetta","tag-local-septic-company-alpharetta","tag-north-fulton-septic-service","tag-north-georgia-clay-septic","tag-restaurant-grease-trap-service","tag-septic-alarm-while-away","tag-septic-backup-alpharetta","tag-septic-bacteria-care","tag-septic-drain-field-repair","tag-septic-inspection-alpharetta","tag-septic-odor-removal","tag-septic-pumping-near-me","tag-septic-repair-alpharetta","tag-septic-repair-near-me","tag-septic-service-alpharetta","tag-septic-service-johns-creek","tag-septic-service-roswell-ga","tag-septic-smell-in-house-alpharetta","tag-septic-system-maintenance","tag-septic-system-maintenance-alpharetta","tag-septic-system-vacation-checklist","tag-septic-tank-cleaning-alpharetta","tag-septic-tank-failure-alpharetta","tag-septic-tank-full","tag-septic-tank-odor-alpharetta","tag-septic-tank-overflowing-alpharetta","tag-septic-tank-problems","tag-septic-tank-pumping-alpharetta","tag-septic-tank-pumping-milton-ga","tag-septic-tank-sludge","tag-septic-tank-troubleshooting-alpharetta","tag-sewage-backup-alpharetta","tag-slow-drains-septic","tag-thanksgiving-septic-tips","tag-vacant-home-septic-care","tag-winter-septic-care-alpharetta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionseptictankservice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionseptictankservice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionseptictankservice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionseptictankservice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionseptictankservice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1661"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/actionseptictankservice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1661\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionseptictankservice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/actionseptictankservice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionseptictankservice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actionseptictankservice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Ask a Neighbor to Take a Look<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Coming Home: Ease Back In<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Filling the House Instead?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Get Ahead of It Before You Leave<\/h3>\n\n\n\n